One More Girl To Keep Save
by unbroken.dreams
Summary: Caleb meets Alison for the first time and finds her to be different than he thought she would be. / Calison Oneshot!


This is my first take on a Calison Fanfic. I had this wonderful scene in mind which I had to write it down. It's my version of how Caleb meets Alison for the first time. Since it's their first meeting this isn't super romantic or anything. But as I imagine it, it's the beginning of something very special :)

Needless to say that you can keep your hate to yourself. Don't like don't read!

But if you do like it and you read it please leave a review to make my day :)

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**ONE MORE GIRL TO KEEP SAVE  
**

He was nervous. It's been weeks since he'd last seen Hanna and even though they split on good terms, he'd always felt terrible about having broken up with her. But how else could he have handled it? Hanna would have been in even more danger than she was with A, he couldn't have done that to her. Of course he could have explained it all to her. But she hadn't even believed him about Miranda – she'd never have believed the rest. No. Breaking up with her had been the only way to protect her.

Besides, he hadn't thought he'd be back to Rosewood anytime soon. But since Miranda had moved on to... whatever came next... the Pact of Five had been broken and Ravenswood was save. He missed Miranda, but he was glad that she was in a better place. Since he wasn't needed anymore in Ravenswood he'd decided to go back to Rosewood. He hadn't come back to win Hanna back. He'd talked to Toby last week and he'd told him that Hanna was dating some guy named Travis and Caleb was fine with that. At least that was what he told himself. He'd caused her a lot of pain - it was good that she'd moved on. He wasn't going to try and steal her away from this Travis guy... if Hanna was into him he was probably a good guy and all Caleb wanted was for her to be happy. And save. That's why he was back – to find A and keep Hanna save.

It was 1 pm. He figured Hanna would still be in school and he'd have some time to prepare a speech for when he'd see her again. However, as he went into the Brew to get a cup of coffee he saw Hanna and her friends sitting at their usual spot – she sofas in the corner. He also saw that there was another girl with them but didn't recognize her from afar. He thought about leaving but soon noticed that Hanna had seen him, too which meant leaving wasn't an option anymore. He took a deep breath and walked over to them.

As he got closer the rest of the girls noticed him too, stopped talking and stared at him. Hanna got up when he arrived at the corner. "Caleb... what are you doing here?"

"I... was going to get coffee." Yeah. He could have really used this time to prepare a speech...

"Okay... let me put it this way: Why aren't you getting coffee in Ravenswood?"

Caleb felt very uncomfortable. The other girls were still staring at him and he felt like he was the biggest jerk in the universe. And maybe that was even true. "I left Ravenswood. I'm back now."

Hanna looked like she didn't know if she should be happy or mad and settled for surprised. "Wow... I didn't see that coming. After the whole Miranda-thing..."

He swallowed hard. She probably still thought he was crazy. "That's... settled. She's gone." He noticed Spencer giving him one of her judgmental looks. He didn't know what Hanna had told the others but judging by their reactions his money _wasn't _on the ghost story.

"Oh. Okay." Hanna said.

"So you're back for good?" Emily asked almost hostile. "You'll be going back to school and everything?"

"That was the plan. I'll go to the principle tomorrow and-" he froze. Hanna had moved a bit and now he saw the blonde girl, who was with the others, up close. He'd seen her before. Granted, only on pictures, but he recognized her instantly. "What-... is this...?"

As much as he hated it when people stared at him, he couldn't help staring at the girl, who was supposed to be dead. The first question popping into his head was: Could everyone see her? The events in Ravenswood had caused him to become a tad paranoid when it came to the dead.

She looked away quickly. It seemed she was just as uncomfortable with being stared at as he was.

"Alison." Hanna nodded. "Yeah. Big surprise, she's alive. We didn't know until, well... actually we found out when you stayed in Ravenswood."

At this Alison looked at him again.

_Ravenswood_, Caleb thought. "Wait, we were still together when I left. Why didn't you tell me?"

Hanna shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't want you to worry. You know. _More_ than usual. Besides, you had your own _ghosts _to handle."

He was going to say something else but when she mentioned the ghosts he exhaled in frustration and let it go. Knowing Hanna by heart he knew this was her way of saying: _It's none of your business and you should totally go see a doctor._

A moment of awkward silence later Spencer got up. "Hanna, we need to go. Remember the thing we need to do?"

The thing. Like he couldn't figure out that the thing had to be about A. The girls showed their loyalty towards Hanna by being dismissive of Caleb, he got it... still. As much as he wanted to help he didn't protest. For now.

"Right." Hanna said. Aria and Emily got up as well, only Alison didn't.

Emily turned to her and asked: "Are you sure you don't want to come? We could really use your help."

"I'll catch up with you later. I was supposed to meet Jason here ten minutes ago which means he'll probably show up in about twenty minutes."

"Okay. See you later."

After they left Caleb went to get his coffee and took a seat at an empty table. He took out his mobile to check his messages just to see that here were none. This was a good thing. No messages usually meant everything was fine. He'd told Remy and the others to text him once something unusual (or in Ravenswood terms: something usual) happened again immediately.

As he put his phone away he realized something had come up to him. Looking up he saw it was Alison. "Do you mind if I sit?"

He thought about it for a moment. Everything he knew about her were stories in which she came off as a cruel bitch. Still, he wasn't one to deny her to sit at the same table with him. "It's a free country."

Alison hesitated, he figured because he hadn't exactly said _go ahead_, but then sat down on the opposite to him.

"You've been in Ravenswood?" she asked. So that was it. Caleb remembered she had looked up the moment Hanna had mentioned this town.

It took him a while to answer and when he did he only answered the question and nothing more. "Yes for the past couple of weeks."

She seemed put off by his restrained behavior and he couldn't blame her. He wasn't exactly giving her the benefit of the doubt regarding the stories he'd heard about her – he already had an opinion about her and it wasn't flattering. Therefore he refrained from voluntarily engaging into a real conversation with her.

Still, she didn't walk away. "Have you met a woman called Mrs. Grunwald?"

He frowned a bit. "Yes, I have. I lived right next to her." He didn't even notice that he had done more than just answering her question which automatically put him a lot closer to what he didn't want to be in – a conversation.

"How is she? Is she alright?" Alison sounded genuinely interested and concerned. She seemed to like Mrs. Grunwald.

"She's fine", he replied slowly. Alison smiled in relief but didn't say anything.

It was Caleb who asked: "How do you know her?"

"I..." Alison hesitated and looked at him, probably trying to figure out if she should tell him. "She saved my life. The night everyone thought I died – if it hadn't been for Mrs. Grunwald I _would_ have died."

"How come she was in Rosewood that night?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Right place right time. It's a long story which I'm not going to bore you with. You obviously don't want to talk to me. I'll just go."

Alison had already gotten up when he heard himself saying: "I don't mind." He hadn't even known he was going to say it until it had already been said. "I mean... I don't have anything else to do right now. I might as well could keep you company until your brother arrives."

It was weird. A couple of moments ago he hadn't wanted to talk to her and now he offered to keep her company and _meant_ it. It was probably her diffident behavior which wasn't what he'd expected.

Clearly confused – which Caleb couldn't blame her for – Alison stood frozen for a moment until a light smile crossed her lips and she sat down again.

"Have you been to Ravenswood to visit her? Maybe bring her some flowers for saving your life?"

Alison smiled. "Sadly no. I haven't seen her since she p-... since that night. I've been to Ravenswood every once in a while but I always avoided staying there longer than I had to. For some reason this town always freaks me out."

Caleb took a short laughter. "Tell me about it. What did you do there if you weren't visiting Mrs. Grunwald?"

She hesitated. "I was trying to find someone."

"A?"

At first there was surprise in her eyes but she got over it quickly. "Hanna's told you?" It was more an observation than a question.

"More or less. If you're dating someone who's being targeted by a psychopath you're bound to notice it at some point. So you don't know who A is?"

"No. A targeted me long before the girls. A is the reason I had to disappear otherwise I'd be dead by now."

"Then why are you back now? Because unless I missed a huge update A is still out there."

She lowered her head. "I know. But all this time... I was save from A but I was also alone and miserable. Besides, I can't hide forever, right?" There was more to the story, he could tell. But he didn't push her into telling him - it was her desicion.

All he said was: "Soon A is going to wish to be the one in hiding. I'm going to help you find the person behind this."

Alison looked up again. "Is that why you came back?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I don't know. I just figured... Hanna..."

"No. That's over." It hurt him to say it out aloud but maybe that was just what he needed. Alison nodded and they fell in uncomfortable silence.

"Can I ask you something?" Caleb asked after a while.

"Sure."

"I've heard a lot of stories about you."

She smiled nervously. "They couldn't have been good..."

"Not exactly. The thing is – I'm having trouble connection the dots. You don't seem to be the girl from the stories. Why is that?"

Alison was silent for a moment.

"I guess most of the stories you heard are true. I don't know, it's just... I've been through a lot. And I think there are some things in life you can't go through without changing."

Caleb nodded. He knew exactly what she was talking about. He'd changed when he'd stayed in Ravenswood and found out about the Pact. As much as he didn't like it to be true, he knew he was different now. Maybe he hadn't changed as much as Alison had but he could still relate to that.

"And now here I am." She smiled a bit but he saw the insecurity behind it. "I'm still not exactly sure what that means. I haven't been home in such a long time, I haven't been with my friends, my family... everything is different now and I don't know if I still fit in this life. I want to. But... sometimes afraid I can't." She shook her head in disbelief. "Why am I even telling you this..."

He could tell that she hadn't told this to anyone else. It was a secret. And it was shocking how Alison's words summed up his world as well. "I know the feeling", was all he said. When their eyes met he felt a weird kind of comfort. Something he hadn't felt in a long time and he instantly knew Alison felt the same. It was why she'd shared her secret with him.

They understood each other.

The door to the brew opened again and Jason walked in. Caleb saw him first and as Alison followed his gaze she said: "That's my cue." She sounded glum – not much, just enough to make Caleb wonder if he felt the same. On the contrary to what he'd expected he'd actually sort of enjoyed talking to Alison.

Not saying any of this out loud he simply smiled a bit. "See you around, I guess."

"Yeah. And Caleb – thank you.

There was no need to ask what she was thanking him for. He hadn't stuck to his judgment and had given her a chance to proof that maybe she was different than he thought she'd be. Not only was she, but she was also glad that Caleb had seen it.

He nodded and she gave him a smile before she walked over to her brother.

After watching her for a while Caleb got up and left the brew. There was a lot of work that needed to be done. Because now he had one more reason to find A.

He had one more girl to keep save.


End file.
